Garfield BOE ethic charges hearing postponed

The ethic charges hearing against two current Board of Education members and three former members originally scheduled for June 27 has been postponed until March 2013, according to Garfield Superintendent of Schools Nicholas Perrapato.

Perrapato said he was informed of the decision on Monday. Perrapato's lawyer, Patrick English, of Clifton, said a medical adjournment was granted until March 2013 for one of the board members.

A message left with Ethics Commission Prosecuting Attorney Geofrey Stark seeking comment has not yet been returned.

In February 2011, the State of New Jersey Department of Education School Ethics Commission found probable cause of ethics charges against the five members that were filed in October 2010 by Perrapato.

Perrapato filed ethic complaints against board members Donna Koch, Nikolce Milevski, Edward Puzio, Anthony Damato and Rosemarie Aloia alleging they violated the School Ethics Act and the Code of Ethics for school board members.

Milevski and Puzio still remain on the board, while Damato lost a re-election bid in 2011. In April, Aloia was not re-elected and Koch chose to instead pursue a seat on the city council in May but was not successful.

Adam Weiss of Methfessel & Werbel law firm in Edison, representing the Board of Education members, said he had no comment regarding the hearing and the postponement.

Last year the commission found probable cause against Puzio, who was absent from the June 25 Board of Education meeting, for allegedly attempting to use his official position to possibly secure an unwarranted advantage for his son.

Some of the other allegations from Perrapato were that the five board members voted to reject several appointments recommended by him in lieu of people they knew personally like patients, people who supported their ticket or the son of the campaign manager for some board members.

Shortly after probable cause was found, the New Jersey Education Commissioner appointed a state monitor to the Garfield School district in March 2011. At the time Perrapato said the board failed in areas of governance, operations and curriculum programs, according to the New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum District Performance Review (QSAC).